''Bully'' (originally titled ''The Bully Project'') is a 2011

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

documentary

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

directed and co-produced by

Lee Hirsch Lee Hirsch (born 1972) is an American documentary filmmaker. Hirsch is a graduate of The Putney School in Vermont and Hampshire College, in Amherst, Massachusetts. He wrote and directed the documentary '' Amandla!: A Revolution in Four-Part Har ...

and co-produced and written by Cynthia Lowen along with producers Cindy Waitt and Sarah Foudy. The film follows the lives of five students who face

bullying Bullying is the use of force, coercion, hurtful teasing or threat, to abuse, aggressively dominate or intimidate. The behavior is often repeated and habitual. One essential prerequisite is the perception (by the bully or by others) of an imba ...

on a daily basis in U.S. schools and premiered at the 2011

Tribeca Film Festival The Tribeca Festival is an annual film festival organized by TriBeCa Productions, Tribeca Productions. It takes place each spring in New York City, showcasing a diverse selection of film, episodic, talks, music, games, art, and immersive progra ...

. It was also screened at the

Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival The Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival is the largest documentary festival in North America. The event takes place annually in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The 27th edition of the festival took place online throughout May and June ...

and the

LA Film Festival The LA Film Festival was an annual film festival that was held in Los Angeles, California, and usually took place in June. It showcased independent, international, feature, documentary and short films, as well as web series, music videos, episod ...

. ''Bully'' had its global premiere at Italy's

Ischia Film Festival The Ischia Film Festival is an annual film festival held in Ischia, Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterrane ...

on July 17, 2011. ''Bully'' was acquired by

The Weinstein Company The Weinstein Company (usually credited or abbreviated as TWC) was an American independent film studio, founded in New York City by Bob and Harvey Weinstein in March 2005. TWC was one of the largest mini-major film studios in North America prior ...

immediately after its premiere at the

. The film was released in United States theaters on March 30, 2012. On the official website, the filmmakers are promoting ''Bully'' as an important advocacy tool against

and in facilitating an anti-bullying movement. Contrary to the filmmaker's goals, the film suffered from a lack of accessibility in theatres due to controversy surrounding its MPAA rating and from an extended downtime between theatre and home release. The film was released on

Blu-ray The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of sto ...

and

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...

on February 12, 2013 only with the PG-13 rated version.

Content

The documentary follows students from public schools in

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to the ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...

and

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...

during the 2009–10 school year; it also follows the students' families. The film's particular focus is on the deaths of

Tyler Long ''Bully'' (originally titled ''The Bully Project'') is a 2011 American documentary drama film directed and co-produced by Lee Hirsch and co-produced and written by Cynthia Lowen along with producers Cindy Waitt and Sarah Foudy. The film follows ...

, who was diagnosed with

Asperger’s Syndrome Asperger syndrome (AS), also known as Asperger's, is a former neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by significant difficulties in social interaction and nonverbal communication, along with restricted and repetitive patterns of behavio ...

, and

Ty Smalley ''Bully'' (originally titled ''The Bully Project'') is a 2011 American documentary drama film directed and co-produced by Lee Hirsch and co-produced and written by Cynthia Lowen along with producers Cindy Waitt and Sarah Foudy. The film follows ...

, both victims of bullying who committed

suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Mental disorders (including depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, personality disorders, anxiety disorders), physical disorders (such as chronic fatigue syndrome), and s ...

. The film describes in great detail how the average American student cannot defend himself or herself against ridicule.

Synopsis

This documentary is about five teenagers and the varieties of bullying or harassment that they went through. The film jumps back and forth between the teens to describe their lives. The film starts off by telling the story of Tyler Long and how he died. Tyler’s father speaks about his son’s social issues and how he knew early on that Tyler might become a victim of bullying. Mr. Long mentions that kids took his clothes when he showered, forcing him to leave naked. They shoved him into lockers and demoralized him verbally as well. These actions are said to have led Tyler to commit suicide in 2009, at the age of 17, when his father found him hanging in his closet with a note on the bed. Alex Libby, who was diagnosed with

Asperger syndrome Asperger syndrome (AS), also known as Asperger's, is a former neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by significant difficulties in Interpersonal relationship, social interaction and nonverbal communication, along with restricted and re ...

, is 12 years old, and is interviewed about his family and how nervous he is to return to school, as he has issues making friends. The cameraman follows him to the bus stop and onto the bus, where the bullying begins and doesn’t stop. The boy sitting beside him on the bus is seen violently threatening him. At school, the camera captures instances of bullying that do not directly pertain to Alex, but do show the principal of the school noticing and simply saying the children should get along but doing little to put an end to it. A boy named Cody is pulled from class to discuss being bullied at lunch, but pulling him out of class was simply a move by the school to give the appearance of attempting to address the issue at hand. Kelby Johnson is a 16 year-old girl who has come out to her hometown as a lesbian. She states that she is not welcome anywhere in the town, due to the town’s religious and societal beliefs. Kelby states that as she was walking down the road a group of boys hit her with a minivan and did not slow down, knowing it was her. Kelby admits that she used to self-harm and has tried to commit suicide three times now. The family mentions that when Kelby’s sexuality came out even the people they were close with stopped talking to them. During the school year, kids would harass, bully, and ignore her. She mentions that even the teachers would bully her and exclude her from events, like calling her as part of a separate roll call list. Her parents have offered to move several times, but Kelby refuses stating that, “If I leave, they win.” Ja’Meya Jackson is a 14-year-old teenage girl who lives with her mother. She went to school in

Yazoo County, Mississippi Yazoo County is a county located in the U.S. state of Mississippi. As of the 2010 census, the population was 28,065. The county seat is Yazoo City. It is named for the Yazoo River, which forms its western border. Its name is said to come from a ...

. Ja’Meya is an honor student and talented basketball player. The children harassed and picked on her for quite some time. Even so, Ja’Meya had plans to join the Navy in order to help her mother. She explains that one day she finally had enough and took her mother’s gun to school in an attempt to intimidate her bullies into leaving her alone. It works and the bullies are terrified, but she was then tackled to the ground by another student and arrested by the police. Tyler’s parents used their son’s death to focus on the issue of bullying at the schools in their town. They held a town meeting, trying to find a way to fix the problem and show the schools and the officers that it is a serious problem. The administrators felt that “kids will be kids” and the teachers shrugged it off, not really taking a stance on the problem even when they knew of bullying in the classroom. During the town meeting Tyler’s family arranges for another child to speak up about bullying and how the teachers don’t pay attention; his name is Devon and he used to be bullied in the past. Ja’Meya is told the charges against her will be dropped, if she accepts to be held in a psychiatric hospital for 3 months. After that she will be allowed to go home, unless a doctor states otherwise. Ty Smalley is a younger child who was bullied relentlessly until he committed suicide at age 11. He had been bullied because of his height, as he was quite small at the time. The school officials claim that bullying wasn’t a factor, even though his friend says otherwise. Trey Wallace, his best friend, claims that Ty was extremely sad the last time that he saw him; he said he was crying. They show pieces of Ty’s funeral, including his parents, “tucking in their baby one last time.” Trey is overcome with emotion and cries at Ty’s casket. He later explains that he used to be a bully when he was in second grade, but as he got older he realized the harm and hurt he did to people. He mentions that when he tried to stand up for Ty, the latter would always tell him that, “they aren’t worth it,” or, “don’t be like them,” getting Trey to back down. We see Kelby rather happy talking about the rain with her current girlfriend. She claims she would not be here, or be able to go to school, without her friends and girlfriend. She refuses to let her bullies “win”. Alex is shown being bullied while on the bus. He has been stabbed, punched, and had his life threatened. He claims to not feel anything anymore. The filmmakers, worried about Alex’s well-being, showed the footage to the administrators and his parents, and when his parents confronted the administrators, a handful of students are disciplined and punished through bus suspension. During the school's efforts, students are shown lying about what happened. Alex is told to tell someone if he is bullied again. Alex claims he won't because he told adults in sixth grade and nothing was done. A few months later, Ja’Meya arrives home with her mother. She is excited to be home again and states how different everything looks. It is Alex’s last day of school. Other students are shown being friendly towards him, signing T-shirts, and laughing with him. Kelby’s parents pulled her out of school because on her first day back, everyone moved their desks to be away from her, showing that nothing has changed. Tyler’s family is later shown hosting rallies to gain awareness for the other children around the world who committed suicide due to bullying. Eventually they start an online group and meet others whose children met a similar fate. They start a memorial service called “Stand for the Silent” to help reach out to children and adults who are or have been victims of bullying and tackle the problem together. Kelby, while also in attendance, stands for the support of the fallen children. Ty’s parents set off groups of balloons to symbolize the lost lives throughout the country. They give out wristbands to help raise awareness for their cause. Ty’s father stands before the crowd to give a speech, in which he states that he will forever fight against bullies everywhere because, “ isson will be 11 years old forever.”

Cast

* Ja'Meya Jackson * Kelby Johnson * Lona Johnson * Bob Johnson * Alex Libby * Jackie Libby * Philip Libby * Maya Libby * Jada Libby * Ethan Libby * Logan Libby * Kim Lockwood * David Long * Tina Long * Teryn Long * Troy Long * Devon Matthews * Barbara Primer * Kirk Smalley * Laura Smalley * Trey Wallace * Tyler Lee Long (archive footage) * Mercedes Banks * Dean Donehoo * Vickie Reed * Jeff Johnson * Howard Ensley * Derek Parker * Chloe Albright * James Ramsey * Paula Crandall

Soundtrack

Release

''Bully'' had its global premiere at Italy's

on July 17, 2011. ''Bully'' was acquired by

immediately after its premiere at the

. The film was released in United States theaters on March 30, 2012. The film was released on

and

on February 12, 2013 only with the PG-13 rated version.

Production

The film's director,

was a victim of bullying as a child and decided to make a documentary so that the hidden lives of bullied children would be brought into the open. He approached the nonprofit organization

Fractured Atlas Fractured Atlas is a non-profit technology company that provides business tools for artists. History Fractured Atlas was founded in 1998 by Executive Director Adam Huttler as a theater production company. Between 1998 and 2001, the company p ...

, which gave him partial funding for the film. Significant additional funding was provided by

Sundance Institute Sundance Institute is a non-profit organization founded by Robert Redford committed to the growth of independent artists. The institute is driven by its programs that discover and support independent filmmakers, theatre artists and composers f ...

Documentary Fund, The Fledgling Fund, BeCause Foundation and Gravity Films. The film's music was composed by Ion Michael Furjanic (former member of the band

Force Theory Force Theory was a musical production team and performance art band from Fort Greene, Brooklyn. Force Theory Productions Force Theory Productions was formed in 2004 by bandmates Ion Michael Furjanic and Neill Sanford Livingston. The partnership are ...

) and

indie Indie is a short form of "independence" or "independent"; it may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Gaming *Independent video game development, video games created without financial backing from large companies *Indie game, any game (board ...

band

Bishop Allen Bishop Allen is an American indie rock band from Brooklyn, New York, United States. The band's core members are Justin Rice and Christian Rudder, who are supported both on stage and in the studio by a rotating cast of musical collaborators. The b ...

. In a screening in Minneapolis in September 2011, Hirsch told the audience that his having been bullied as a child was part of the inspiration for the film. In an interview with a Twin Cities news website after the screening, Hirsch continued, "I felt that the hardest part of being bullied was communicating, and getting help. I couldn’t enroll people’s support. People would say things like 'get over it,' even my own father and mother. They weren't with me. That was a big part of my wanting to make the film. It's cathartic on a daily basis." Hirsch said he hoped the film grows far beyond him, inspiring advocacy, engagement, and empowerment not just in people who are being bullied and in their families, but by those of us who all too often stand by and do nothing. He stated, "I hope we build something that’s really sustainable. I hope this takes on a life of its own."

MPAA rating

On February 27, 2012, a Change.org online petition was created, directed to the CEO of the

Motion Picture Association of America The Motion Picture Association (MPA) is an American trade association representing the five major film studios of the United States, as well as the video streaming service Netflix. Founded in 1922 as the Motion Picture Producers and Distribu ...

(MPAA) in order to reduce the movie's

rating A rating is an evaluation or assessment of something, in terms of quality, quantity, or some combination of both. Rating or ratings may also refer to: Business and economics * Credit rating, estimating the credit worthiness of an individual, c ...

from R (due to some language as shown in the poster) to PG-13, because the R rating would prevent the intended audience from seeing the film. The filmmakers lost the appeal for a PG-13 rating by one vote. As of March 15, 2012, Butler had collected more than 300,000 signatures, but the MPAA initially hesitated to make the change. Joan Graves of the MPAA said that though ''Bully'' is a "wonderful film", the organization's primary responsibility is to provide information to parents about the films' content. On March 26, 2012,

announced that it would release ''Bully'' unrated, in protest of the MPAA's decision. This effectively restricted the movie to art-house and independently owned theaters since

AMC AMC may refer to: Film and television * AMC Theatres, an American movie theater chain * AMC Networks, an American entertainment company ** AMC (TV channel) ** AMC+, streaming service ** AMC Networks International, an entertainment company *** AM ...

Cinemark Cinemark Holdings, Inc. (stylized as CineMark from 1998 to 2022 and CINEMARK since 2022) is an American movie theater chain that started operations in 1984 and since then it has operated theaters with hundreds of locations throughout the America ...

, and many other American cinema chains have policies against screening unrated films. Despite this, AMC announced it would allow minors to watch the film upon receipt of a signed permission slip from a parent or guardian.

Regal Cinemas Regal Cinemas (also Regal Entertainment Group) is an American movie theater chain headquartered in Knoxville, Tennessee. A division of Cineworld, Regal operates the second-largest theater circuit in the United States, with over 7,200 screens i ...

did indicate they would play the film; however it would treat it as an R-rated feature. In Canada (where each province sets its own rating), as of March 30, 2012, ''Bully'' has received PG ratings (from six of ten provinces: Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, Ontario, Québec and Saskatchewan) with no age restrictions but warnings for coarse language. In April, The Weinstein Company came to an agreement with the MPAA. After toning down the profanity, the film received a new rating of PG-13 (for intense thematic material, disturbing content and some strong language—all involving kids), which meant that children of all ages could watch the movie without an adult. The Weinstein Company subsequently announced that the PG-13 rated version of ''Bully'' would be released nationwide on April 13, 2012. When it was released, its widest release was in 265 theaters.

Critical reception

''Bully'' was positively received by critics. Review aggregator

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

gave the film an 85% based on 142 reviews, with an average score of 7.20/10, making the film "Certified Fresh", stating "Hard-hitting and gracefully filmed, ''Bully'' powerfully delivers an essential message to an audience that may not be able to see it." At

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

, the film received an average score of 74/100, based on 33 reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews". Roger Ebert said: “'Bully' is a sincere documentary but not a great one. We feel sympathy for the victims, and their parents or friends, but the film helplessly seems to treat bullying as a problem without a solution." The film was referenced in the ''

South Park ''South Park'' is an American animated sitcom created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone and developed by Brian Graden for Comedy Central. The series revolves around four boys Stan Marsh, Kyle Broflovski, Eric Cartman, and Kenny McCormickand th ...

'' episode "

Butterballs Russian tea cake is a kind of pastry, often eaten around Christmas in the United States. Ingredients Russian tea cakes have a relatively simple recipe, generally consisting entirely of flour, water, butter, and ground nuts, the nut variet ...

", particularly a scene in which

Kyle Kyle or Kyles may refer to: Places Canada * Kyle, Saskatchewan, Canada Ireland * Kyle, County Laois * Kyle, County Wexford Scotland * Kyle, Ayrshire, area of Scotland which stretched across parts of modern-day East Ayrshire and South Ayrshir ...

asks

Stan Stan or STAN may refer to: People * Stan (given name), a list of people with the given name ** Stan Laurel (1890–1965), English comic actor, part of duo Laurel and Hardy * Stan (surname), a Romanian surname * Stan! (born 1964), American author ...

(who created an anti-bullying documentary) "If this video needs to be seen by everyone, why don't you put it on the Internet for free?" to which Stan had no answer.

Awards and accolades

; 2012 Awards Circuit Community Awards * Best Documentary Feature Film -

(Nominated) ; 2011 Bergen International Film Festival * Best Documentary Feature Film -

(Won) ; 2013 Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards * Best Documentary Feature (Nominated) ; 2013 Cinema Eye Honors Awards, US * Best Documentary Film -

(Won) ; 2012 Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association Awards * Best Documentary (2nd place) ; 2012 Denver Film Critics Society * Best Documentary Film (Nominated) ; 2013 Gay and Lesbian Entertainment Critics Association (GALECA) * Documentary of the Year (Nominated) ; 2013 Gold Derby Awards * Documentary Feature -

and Cynthia Lowen (Nominated) ; 2012 Golden Trailer Awards * Best Documentary -

and The AV Squad (Nominated) * Best Documentary Poster -

(Nominated) ; 2011 Hamptons International Film Festival * Film of Conflict and Resolution -

(Won) ; 2012 Houston Film Critics Society Awards * Best Documentary Feature (Nominated) ; 2012 Las Vegas Film Critics Society Awards * Best Documentary (Won) ; 2013 Motion Picture Sound Editors, USA * Best Sound Editing - Sound Effects, Foley, Dialogue, ADR and Music in a Feature Documentary - Christopher Barnett, Al Nelson,

Gary Rydstrom Gary Roger Rydstrom (born June 29, 1959) is an American sound designer and film director. He has been nominated for 20 Academy Awards for his work in sound for movies, winning 7. Life and career Rydstrom was born in Chicago. He graduated from t ...

, Ion Michael Furjanic, Pete Horner, Bob Edwards and Pascal Garneau (Nominated) ; 2015 New Media Film Festival * Best LGBT (Won) ; 2015 News & Documentary Emmy Awards * Best Documentary -

and Cynthia Lowen (Nominated) * Outstanding Informational Programming - Long Form -

, Sally Jo Fifer, Cindy Waitt, Lois Vossen and Cynthia Lowen (Nominated) ; 2012 North Texas Film Critics Association, US * Best Documentary (Won) ; 2013 Online Film & Television Association * Best Documentary Picture - Cynthia Lowen,

and Cindy Waitt (Nominated) ; 2013 PGA Awards * Best Documentary Film -

and Cynthia Lowen (Won) ; 2012 Phoenix Film Critics Society Awards * Best Documentary (Nominated) ; 2012 San Diego Film Critics Society Awards * Best Documentary (Nominated) ; 2011 Silverdocs Documentary Festival * Documentary -

(Nominated) ; 2012 Southeastern Film Critics Association Awards * Best Documentary (2nd place) ; 2012 St. Louis Film Critics Association, US * Best Documentary Feature Film (2nd place) ; 2012 São Paulo International Film Festival * Best Foreign Film -

(Nominated) ; 2011 Tribeca Film Festival * Best Documentary Feature -

(Nominated) ; 2012 Washington DC Area Film Critics Association Awards * Best Documentary (Won) ; 2011 Zurich Film Festival * Best International Documentary Film -

(Nominated)

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bully 2011 films American documentary films Films shot in Georgia (U.S. state) Films shot in Iowa Films shot in Mississippi Films shot in Oklahoma Films shot in Texas American independent films Rating controversies in film Films about bullying 2011 documentary films Documentary films about education in the United States 2010s English-language films The Weinstein Company films 2010s American films